Christianity desacralized nature. What were worshiped as speaking winds, sacred groves, and living rivers became hollow matter. But the wilds still remained a place of spiritual encounter; the satyrs, naiads, and fauns lost their old majestic clothes and were revealed to be demons. So, the wilds are a place of spiritual warfare, and have been since the first Egyptian hermits entered the desert barrens to dwell in landscapes not made for human habitation, where even potable water had to be carried in from miles away, or settled in mouldering old tombs and abandoned temples. God allowed demons to physically attack and injure St. Anthony the Great in a cave where he retreated, to the point where his disciples thought he was actually beaten to death when they found him.